Sunfish or Mola, which in Latin means milestone, that somewhat describes their appearance, are a curious but amazing visitor to our coast. Arriving in mid to late summer.
They can be seen lying on the water surface with their dorsal fin slowly flapping to and fro. Strange behaviour you may think, but nature has it’s reasons. Often we see a few gulls very close or even pecking at them. What’s going on? Well, the Sunfish are hosts to small parasites that grow and burrow into their skin and become very bothersome. These parasites make a nice meal for the gulls, so it’s a win, win all round! By lying on the water surface and flipping their fin from side to side, they advertise their presence, letting the gulls know grubs up.
They can also be seen lying head up just out of the sea, blowing fountains of water up into the air, presumably, again to attract the attention of the gulls.
In British waters we see them from two to three feet head to tail, but they are in fact the heaviest bony fish in the world growing to a staggering 1000 kg.
They generally eat, zooplankton, algae, small fish, fish larvae, squid, Crustaceans and sea jellies.
They have few predators close to the British coast, but further afield they can fall prey to sea lions, Orca (killer whales) and sharks.
They, as with much of the marine life in our waters are affected by human impact, either by getting caught in gill nets or ingesting plastic they mistake for jellies.
If you would like to join us on a search for these and the other magical animals and birds of Mounts Bay, just send a message or make a call.
